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Setting the standards

As a company that prides itself on creating the best safety solutions for the mining, construction and earthmoving sector, it’s no surprise that one expert at QMW played a vital role in setting the benchmark for rollover protection for hydraulic excavators.

QMW founder and managing director Jeff Samuels has been on the Standards Australia Committee focusing on safety in the mining sector since 1984. He was also part of an international working group that developed the international safety standard for roll over protection systems for hydraulic excavators between 6-50 tonnes.

Rollover protection safety standards had been written in the past for a range of earth moving and mining equipment, but not specifically for hydraulic excavators as it was previously thought to be unnecessary.

However, before the introduction of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 12117.2 roll over protection structures (ROPS) in 2008, international studies reveal that there were a concerning number of accidents and deaths associated with hydraulic excavators.

“ISO 12117.2 has now been rolled out internationally and across Australia, reducing the number of deaths and injuries caused by accidents in hydraulic excavators,” he said.

It is in the best interest of any company to adopt the standard as it prevents the risk of rollovers and injury to its operators, Mr Samuels added.

The main part of what QMW do is design and test ROPS (Excavator ISO 12117.2) and OPG (Excavator ISO 10262).

“So it is in our best interest to adopt international standards when it came to safety as we are basically a global economy,” he said. “We don’t want to be a banana republic, so we comply internationally, as most of the mining and construction equipment is made overseas.”

All testing is carried out at its facility located in Brisbane, with destructive testing conducted on most makes and models of trucks, earthmoving and mining equipment from small loaders up to large dump trucks.

With QMW’s experience and expertise, the company aims to continue producing innovative solutions that prevent the risk of injuries, Mr Samuels said.

In addition to its innovative engineering services and commitment to safety, QMW are also regarded in the industry as being the best of the best when it comes to fitting ROPS and FOPS to after market products.